Expanded Deck Tech: Ice Ryder Calyrex + Blastoise

Today I bring a practical water deck, especially for beginners who want a strong water deck using the Ice Rider Calyrex in an aggressive strategy.

We use cards from past generations to build the setup, like Blastoise from Black/White: Boundaries Crossed, for example. As most of the Pokémon in the deck are V-type, Melony will be very useful: it's like a Welder, but for Water-type, to also help with energy acceleration.

Decklist

Ice Rider Calyrex VMax: the main attacker

Here we have a versatility of damage: you can use the first attack preserving energy, and note that it uses base damage according to the opponent's bench. Let's say they have a full bench, with 5 Pokémon, Calyrex already does 150 damage (30 x 5) plus 10 base damage, totaling 160 damage for two energies! And if a fire Pokémon appears, poor thing, it takes 320 damage for free due to its weakness.

Its last attack is perhaps a form of “ultimatum” to take down a bothersome Pokémon or close some remaining damage, assuming that you did 160 damage with the first attack and want to put 120 damage with a (W) energy discard (plus 10 base) for a total of 290 damage, it already destroys 90% of Tag Team-GX Pokémon in Expanded. And if you choose to discard the two energies of (W), you will be dealing 240 of the discards plus 10 of the base damage!

Suicune V: great to start the match

It is another attacker that has a first attack similar to Ice Rider Calyrex VMax, which uses damage based on the number of Pokémon on the Bench.

Recursive Pokémon

- Radiant Greninja ASR 46 has Concealed Cards, which allows to discard an Energy card from your hand to draw 2 cards from the top of your deck.

In addition, it also serves as a sniper attacker with Moonlight Shuriken, hitting two opposing Pokémon.

And by discarding a (W) energy from your hand to activate the ability, it can synergize with Melony CRE 146 for power up.

- Volcanion ◇ FLI 31 has Jet Geyser, which means that at least once during your turn, you can discard a Water Energy in your hand to pull an opponent's Benched Pokémon into Active Position. Its attack also serves as a sniping attack, Sauna Blast, dealing 100 damage and 20 damage to all Benched Pokémon.

- Lumineon V BRS 40 has Luminous Sign, which if Summoned from your hand and put on your Bench, it looks for a Supporter card. It can be easily filtered in searches using Irida ASR 147 or Dive Ball PRC 125.

- Blastoise BCR 31 has the ability Deluge, which lets you move Water Energy from your hand to your Pokémon any way you want, the famous Rain Dance scheme. It's one of the most important support Pokémon here, as it can move a lot of energy to Ice Rider Calyrex to speed up the turns if you need to use Max Lance.

Trainer Cards

- Irida ASR 147 serves to search for a Water Pokémon and an Item card from your deck, helping with resources whether searching for Ice Rider Calyrex-V and its VMax form or even for recursive Pokémon : Lumineon V to combo next turn with Supporter search, or Squirtle and Blastoise to power up the deck; in addition to picking up Items, such as Dive Ball, Capacious Bucket or others that you need.

- Nessa VIV 157 allows recycling 4 cards in a combination of Water Pokémon and Water Energy from the discard pile into your hand.

- Melony CRE 146 is used to power up a basic Water Energy from the discard pile to one of your Pokémon V, and if you do, you draw 3 cards.

- Boss's Orders BRS 132 serves to pull an opponent's benched Pokémon and bring it into active position to close specific knockouts.

- Dive Ball PRC 125 is practically for looking for (W) Pokémon in the deck, no matter if it's basic or evolution. Simply search for the archetype, which is wonderful.

- Capacious Bucket RCL 156 is used to search the deck for two Water Energy and put it in your hand.

Great for getting more energy into your hand and synergizing with Blastoise's Deluge ability.

- Switch Raft DRM 62 is an Item equivalent to Switch, but it heals 30 points from the Benched (W) Active Pokémon.

- Superior Energy Retrieval PLF 103 is good for putting more energy in your hand and using the synergy with Blastoise's Deluge ability and attaching those energies to your Pokémon.

- VS Seeker PHF 109 recovers a Supporter card from the discard pile.

Advantages

It has a simple and aggressive strategy, and is good for those who are fans of the water type or Ice Rider Calyrex itself.

In addition to its first attack being based on damage per amount of Pokémon on the opponent's Bench, Suicune V does the same, thus being able to influence the game in your favor.

The list has a predefined and simple route to guide, for those who are starting.

Disadvantages

- Deck that uses Path to the Peak CRE 148 can be annoying, as it hinders the abilities of Pokémon with “Rule Box”, that is, Lumineon V BRS 40 as a Supporter search, Radiant Greninja ASR 46 for drawing cards, and the Volcanion ◇ FLI 31 with its “catcher” ability against the opponent's Pokémon.

- Decks with “Deck Out” strategies like Moltres or Centiskorch.

It's a deck with a simple strategy, objective and with few energies (being that the greatest attackers of the deck use a maximum of two water energies) it can cause expressively efficient damage (not that it can give a “Hit KO”, but it can give damage to the opponent, undermining for two hits).

And now it's up to you: what do you think of the deck? You are welcome to leave your comment below!